6 Smart Uses for Clothespins

Clothespins
Clothespins

These expert tricks and surprising uses for clothespins will simplify your life in one simple clamp.

1. Keep fingers safe. Pinch a match with a spring-type clothespin to light fireplaces and tricky candle votives.

2. Light-proof your hotel room. Clip hotel drapes together to keep out glaring rays (and eyes).
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3. Separate cords. Label clothespins with permanent marker (TV, DVR, DVD, Stereo, Phone, etc.), and use them to identify the cords that belong to each appliance.
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4. Align your garden. Wedge a clothespin into the fork (or the spot where a branch and the trunk meet) to keep saplings growing straight and strong.

5. Mark your spot. Clamp a pin onto a page in a book to save your place. If you're part of a book club, clip together your favorite chapter for an easy way to flip and find.
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6. Organize the closet. Drape up to four ties or scarves across the bottom of a wire hanger and fix each in place with a pin.
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By Alison Caporimo from Reader's Digest Magazine